Our Strategic Priorities for 2008-2011

The overall strategic priority for the Agency is to continue to be a leading Canadian tribunal.  To this end, we are committed to setting and achieving high performance  standards, both internally and externally.

The Agency will also foster and develop productive relationships with its stakeholders, clients, the general public, other government agencies and other tribunals.  Internally, we will continue to look at innovative ways to improve our processes to ensure sound and timely decision-making and regulatory approvals.

The Agency's priorities for the 2008-2011 period are:

1. Effective dispute resolution and economic regulation.

2. Focussing on our people as our greatest asset.

3. Enhanced internal and external relations through clear and timely communications.

4. A more accessible transportation network without undue obstacles to the mobility of persons.

5. Organizational support and responsiveness through superior business management practices.

Strategic Priorities

Priority 1:  Dispute Resolution and Economic Regulation

Dispute resolution and economic regulation are two of the Agency's key business functions.  As always, we strive to ensure that our services are effective, responsive, fair and transparent, and weigh the interests of all parties in the national transportation system in a balanced manner.

Our objectives are to:

• Improve the responsiveness and effectiveness with which disputes are resolved.

• Promote Alternative Dispute Resolution as a preferred alternative to formal adjudication.

• Continue to focus on the timely issuance of regulatory authorizations requested by transportation service providers.

A number of factors impact on our ability to act in a responsive and effective manner.  First, since complaints and applications for economic authorities such as licences and permits are client-driven, there is uncertainty in predicting the size and timing of our workloads.  Second, late and improperly completed applications cause delays.  Third, the issues raised are tending to be more complex, requiring more extensive proceedings and analysis.

Despite these challenges, the Agency has opportunities for improving workload management.  With the new organizational structure, dispute resolution and the issuance of regulatory authorities are grouped for all modes of transportation, providing more flexibility in responding to changing demand and reallocating resources to alleviate workload pressures.

The new structure will also result in more consistency in the dispute resolution process and more timely issuance of regulatory authorities.  In addition, through clearer communication, stakeholders will have a better understanding of their responsibilities in meeting deadlines and supplying complete information, resulting in a more timely dispute resolution process.

To further improve efficiency, the Agency has adopted a streamlined decision format which maintains its integrity as a legal document but is more client friendly, more  concise, written in plain language and requires less resources to produce.

Our experience has shown that ADR requires fewer resources for the Agency and parties and tends to produce more timely resolution of disputes than the formal adjudication process.  It also benefits parties by giving them a chance to reach a resolution on their own terms.

Action Summary

• Simplify the case management and decision-making process to improve the timeliness of decisions.

• Create a permanently staffed ADR unit to meet the increasing demand for facilitation, mediation, and arbitration.

2008-2011 Performance Targets

Priority 2:  People

In the next three years, one third of the Agency's staff will be eligible to retire.  To ensure the transfer of their corporate knowledge and expertise, we will be identifying "high risk" knowledge positions and will establish mentoring and information retention and transfer initiatives as part of a knowledge management plan.  We will also be focussing on recruiting new employees and retaining and developing our current staff.  To this end, our objectives are to:

• Attract and retain a diverse workforce of highly skilled and motivated people.

• Ensure that corporate knowledge and expertise are preserved in the Agency.

• Foster a dynamic, creative working environment.

• Enhance employee development.

The Agency fully embraces the principle that employees are the greatest asset of any organization.  We also recognize that to attract and retain highly skilled individuals, we must provide a working environment that fosters innovation, develops talent and creates opportunities for employee development.  We will therefore continue to implement initiatives which promote our organization as a workplace of choice within an increasingly competitive marketplace.

To guarantee that knowledge and expertise remain within the Agency, we have adopted a staffing strategy which builds on key initiatives, such as succession planning, a management development program, continuous learning and in-house language training.

Action Summary

• Conduct a Gap Analysis, which will identify areas where the Agency is most vulnerable to the loss of corporate knowledge.

• Develop and implement plans for the retention and transfer of knowledge.

• Implement targeted external recruitment strategies.

• Use generic competencies and developmental assignments to create pools of qualified candidates.

• Regularly assess the implementation of the new organizational structure to ensure full and effective implementation, and address any need for adjustments.

• Demonstrate a commitment to employees' enrichment through enhanced learning opportunities.

2008-2011 Performance Targets

Priority 3: Enhanced Internal and External Relations

In providing its services, the Agency is committed to clear and timely communications, and increased dialogue amongst its employees and with clients and stakeholders.  To address this new priority we have established the following objectives:

• Clearly communicate the Agency's role, objectives, priorities and processes.

• Dialogue regularly with employees and external clients and stakeholders.

• Improve the Agency's ability to identify and respond to client and stakeholder needs.

To establish productive and mutually beneficial relationships with clients and stakeholders, the Agency recognizes its need to improve communications – chiefly, to ensure that its communications are open and responsive.

We are adopting an approach that is co-ordinated and designed to improve our understanding of the issues and challenges facing our employees, clients and transportation service providers.

We are committed to providing more easily understood information on a more timely basis.  Our Intranet and Web site are undergoing major enhancements to support these objectives and we will be producing an expanded array of information bulletins designed to provide the information our clients and stakeholders tell us they are interested in receiving.

To facilitate an open dialogue with clients and stakeholders, we are instituting regular consultations or roundtable meetings that provide a forum for meaningful discussions on broad and systemic issues, and important developments in the industry.  In addition, client satisfaction surveys will provide crucial performance information to the Agency and drive our efforts to improve service delivery.

Action Summary

• Develop a program to measure client satisfaction and use the information to drive the improvement of our service delivery.

• Develop and implement mechanisms for ongoing dialogue with clients and stakeholders.

• Complete the development and publishing of service standards.

• Enhance our Intranet and Web site to provide clear, timely information to meet the needs of our employees, clients and stakeholders.

2008-2011 Performance Targets

Priority 4:  Accessible Transportation

The Agency has a legislative mandate to remove undue obstacles to the mobility of all persons, particularly those with disabilities.  Put simply, it is our job to support policy objectives set out in the Canada Transportation Act, which is to ensure that the federal transportation network is accessible to everyone.  Our objectives are to:

• Improve the effectiveness of dispute resolution processes involving persons with disabilities and transportation service providers.

• Monitor compliance with codes of practice and regulations concerning accessibility.

• Enhance communications with stakeholders.

As a result of a 2007 ruling by the Supreme Court of Canada, it has been confirmed that the Agency has a mandate and an obligation to apply human rights principles, as found in the Canadian Human Rights Act, in its investigation of accessibility cases.  Service providers are now required to meet a specific test of "undue hardship" in determining whether they are providing reasonable accommodation to persons with disabilities.

The issues raised in accessibility disputes can be highly complex, affecting broad groups of persons with disabilities and involving multiple service providers.  Significant time and resources are required to hear these cases.  Whenever appropriate, we will  continue to vigorously promote informal means of dispute resolution as a less costly alternative for all parties.

To resolve systemic issues, the Agency will continue to anticipate problems of access and identify ways transportation service providers can eliminate them, ideally, before they occur.  Accordingly, the Agency will develop and implement a comprehensive monitoring and compliance publication/methodology to build on its existing monitoring activities.  This will be supported by an extensive outreach program, which consists of ongoing dialogue with industry and organizations representing persons with disabilities.  This program will identify key issues and educate all parties about their rights and responsibilities regarding accessibility of the federal transportation network.

Action Summary

• Streamline the resolution of accessibility disputes by increasing the use of facilitation and mediation.

• Communicate clearly to service providers their responsibilities under the new "undue hardship test."

• Develop and implement a new comprehensive monitoring and compliance publication/methodology covering regulations, codes of practice, and other standards.

• Work with service providers to identify gaps in compliance and possible solutions that take into account both commercial issues and the needs of persons with disabilities.

2008-2011 Performance Targets

Priority 5:  Organizational Support and Responsiveness

The purpose of this priority is to ensure a strong governance model, effective management principles and sound processes that enable the Agency to meet its other four priorities.

In order to be a well-managed, innovative organization that anticipates and responds effectively to change, the Agency will adopt systemic business management practices in order to:

• Continue to improve governance and management processes that strengthen organizational capacity, stewardship and ensure clear accountability for results.

• Document, review and harmonize processes across the Agency.

• Demonstrate commitment to ongoing process improvements.

• Employ innovation and creativity within an integrated risk management framework.

It is anticipated that it will take 1-2 years to fully benefit from the implementation of our new organizational structure and workload management initiatives, and achieve the expected results.  The new structure will help address challenges faced by the Agency through process efficiency, ensuring better forecasting of resource requirements, and the realignment of resources to match priorities and workload.

Our results-focussed Performance Measurement Framework establishes benchmarks and will determine the level of service delivery we need to achieve.  It will allow us to track how closely objectives are being met and support better management of information to support decision-making.

The Agency is also committed to meeting the accountability requirements of a federal government organization.  Ensuring that the Agency is equipped with a comprehensive and integrated model for management and a commitment to continuous  improvement will enable us to meet accountability expectations of Parliament and Canadians.  Internal audits and business process evaluations will provide objective assessments about the design of our practices and operation of our systems.  This will directly contribute to effective risk management and resource control.

Further, the Agency will examine best practices and lessons learned of other tribunals and small agencies as part of its commitment to continuous improvement in its planning and operations.

Action Summary

• Continue to evaluate and streamline processes to ensure that the management of resources is in alignment with the new organizational structure.

• Effectively manage resources by adopting appropriate risk management practices and proactive budget processes in developing multi-year business plans.

• Work toward the full implementation of the Agency's Performance Measurement Framework.

• Continue to monitor and improve management practices.

2008-2011 Performance Targets